


Stars and Ice

by ibeta



Series: Secret Identity Stuff [2]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Battle Skating, Ice Skating, Icetale AU, M/M, Secret Identity
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-28
Updated: 2017-06-19
Packaged: 2018-09-15 21:40:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 17,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9258362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ibeta/pseuds/ibeta
Summary: Skating on the ice was the main fighting style. The Snowdin School of Rhythm had finally decided to branch out into college and university levels, which meant that they had to build another set of buildings in the area.Fortunately for the school, they found the perfect place, near an area with a large ice rink, one that had magical burns on its edges.Papyrus is very much excited and wants to join the school in order to learn more about being a Royal Guard.(Unfortunately for Sans, he just lost the safest place he could calm his magic.)





	1. that cunning bro

**Author's Note:**

> [progress and stuff](https://ibeta.tumblr.com/progress)

There was no doubt in Sans' mind that the moment the Snowdin School of Rhythm announced the new college and university buildings open to students, his brother would drag him into the school to enroll.

Papyrus had been so excited about the mystery behind the start of the construction of the buildings, claiming that all sorts of rumours had cropped up from the Underground. Some had mentioned the school was going to build an indoor rink, and some mentioned a new gym. Some of them had spread rumours about new science laboratories, and those kinds of rumours had Sans hanging by the edge of his seat.

It turns out that most of the rumours had been true, barring the one that had mentioned a spaceship. Sans had worked his mind up to rationalize that one. It had been one of his greatest achievements, making a skele _ton_  of monsters believe the school was building a new spaceship.

It would have been funnier if they realized they were underground, not at the Surface.

He still thought it was funny, though.

"SANS, ARE YOU LISTENING?!"

Sans snapped out of his thoughts, glancing back at his brother, whose browridge had furrowed into a glare. He was holding one of the course listing books that he had borrowed from one of Undyne's friends. He had it lying next to the plate of Sans’ pet rock, using a bone as a bookmark on a page to keep it open.

"yeah, bro," Sans replied nervously, eyelights carefully analytical as his brother huffed in approval before pacing in front of the table. "you wanted to enroll for the new school," he hazarded a guess, gaining the gaze of sparkly eyelights in return.

Papyrus exclaimed an excited, "YES!"

Papyrus still looked so expectant, and Sans knew exactly what had been said while he was reminiscing about the day he made up spaceship rumours.

"and you... wanted me to come along."

Papyrus nodded eagerly, offering the most adorable and pitiful eyes known to monsterkind. Sans immediately looked away, knowing his weakness to those innocent eyes would make him cave faster than an underground earthquake. He muffled groan into his arm. He nearly fell off the couch as he slid down the armrest, curling himself into a small ball of hoodie, pants and skeleton, wishing sleep could overtake him at any given point of time.

For the past weeks after the school had been built, he had felt so tense. Unable to sleep, unable to relax, unable to stop jumping at the littlest of sounds – he was vibrating under his bones. His senses felt as if it was on the edge of a dangerous cliff, where one short step could crack him up like an eggshell. He felt like his mind had taken a step back into the mode where everything he could sense was a danger to him and his brother. His hyper-awareness made him much more irritable and less patient.

It gave him too much  _energy._

Just like Papyrus, he had been made for a scientific purpose by their father. With the scientific purpose came the other side-effect of having too much awareness. Gaster had been able to find out just what could help them ease the hyper-awareness. It was puzzles and creative entertainment for Papyrus, and for Sans, his science things and his brother. It was an easy guess, what with them being born fascinated with  _everything_.

When the science thing was dropped – because Gaster accidentally fell into the CORE and no one remembered his children being helpers in the lab – Sans had found that distracting himself with many jobs had worked…  _any_  job. So long as he didn't allow his mind to sink into modes of battle tactics.

But he still hadn't been able to get the level down to the relaxation he had felt when he was learning under Gaster's lessons. Nothing eased him more than learning about worlds and timelines and so many different bonds of chemicals, the spectrum of visible magic and the theoretical physics. It kept his mind so busy on a task that he could calm down after several experiments.

While he had been scouring the dump for gifts, however, he had found that odd physics book. It wasn't the quantum physics book from his collection – it was a physics book of sports for intermediate students. (It was only a guess. He had no idea how student levels worked in the human world, but it seemed intermediate enough for his tastes.) It was a book explaining the physics of every sport famous in the Surface of the world. One of them had Underground's main fighting style: gliding on ice. Both of them formally called it  _ice skating_.

Fighting had evolved to another level of art when monsters got trapped in the Underground. Believing the humans still glided on ice, monsterkind learned to practice on the same terrain. Being pacifists to the core, monsters also had to find ways to integrate damages into their dances on the ice without damaging anyone physically. Someone had found a way, in the end, and it spread throughout the history of gliders.

Before the monsters had fallen, they had lived in an icy location, no matter the type of monster. Grillbz had stories where he mentioned that his parents' magic worked to protect them from the water whenever they accidentally warmed up. Since their fire usually was luminescent than incandescent, it only took little energy to set their form back to normal. He could have lived in Hotland, but to honour his ancestors, he chose to live in Snowdin.

The Underground had a surprisingly diverse weather group. Near the top was Snowdin with its winter theme, lower to it Waterfall, which boasted something warm enough to melt the ice and have echo flowers and trees. The lowest cave system was Hotland, which had nearly killed the first cave monsters when they had it designed. Nearer to the in-between of Hotland and Waterfall's temperature was the Capital, the perfect temperature that had decent humidity, and no snow or lava. It was large enough to contain most of the monsters in the Underground.

Sans had found out that skating through the cold weather systems had been his best shot at calming himself down. The science and creativity he poured into his work had him motivated with determination for  _years_. Discovering ways to imitate ice with magic had filled his mind with great ideas. The science was a bonus to realizing his body type could be thrown into the air with ease, giving him more projects to complete for different uses of his gravity magic.

He had found himself a safe place to skate, something far away from home and secret enough that he could conduct his experiments and enjoy his new hobby of using physics to help him manipulate his body into complicated moves.

It had taken him a few tries to skate properly, as Gaster had planned for him and Papyrus to be lab assistants instead of ice dancers. (He didn't just spontaneously know how to skate. He had taken a lot of falls.) There had been no time for dawdling. Their focus had been centred on breaking the barrier or creating instruments to break the barrier. They had gone from chemicals to blasters, from concentrated monster magic to physical attacks. It had been the oddest memories Sans had of Gaster. Science had become his life and it was something so familiar.

On the ice, however... The complexity of using his body and his knowledge of physics to keep him moving on the ice gave him satisfaction. There was something about the way the mechanics of the skating had his soul racing with delight. His physics with ice skating had evolved enough that he could intuit the exact numbers from his years of experience.

It was an  _addiction,_ just like his brother with his puzzles. Each time his mind had to calculate the angles and falls, the pressure of his weight on ice, the gravity of the world pulling him down an ice-crafted ramp, the complex shifts in the icy terrain... It made him feel alive. There was something about getting things right made his soul relax, but also so excited.

He could only wish that the school hadn't been planning for something so long.

Sure, Sans had been expecting a college and university type from the school, but he had not expected they would build the school near one of his secret spot. Going from what he had seen when he had passed his spot near the border of Waterfall and Snowdin... it wasn't a  _secret_ any more. Many ice-skating monsters had used the wide ice floor as their practice area.

His secret spot had become a  _public_ place.

When Sans had spotted them gliding all over his safe space, he had to take an immediate retreat back home and buried himself on a pile of heavy sheets, trying to contain the shivers of dread as he fought to keep his soul steady. He had noticed the signs of the trend beginning to take over the monsters, going by the state he had found them. Many had lined up for a chance to be in his safe space, eyes eager. Many were also curious about the magical burn encompassing the edges of the ice rink, not knowing why it was left behind, particularly scientists.

Even Papyrus' friend had made up ideas about the first monsters using it for something cool, like monster ice battles.

Sans didn't correct any of the rumours that popped up from that ridiculous story. Sans held back his intangible tongue and tried to contain his growing frustrations from the lack of skating with physics.

He heard Papyrus clearing his intangible throat. "WELL, OF COURSE YOU SHOULD! THEY HAVE SO MANY COURSES TO CHOOSE FROM! UNDYNE HAD SAID IT COULD HELP ANYONE WITH ASPIRATIONS TO BE A ROYAL GUARD!"

"i have lots of jobs. you know that, right?" Sans stated with great hesitation, unwilling to be the bringer of bad news. "and... i kinda don't need that any more. i already have the credentials from the other school in the capital."

His brother was unusually silent.

Sans peeked from under his arm, and saw his brother twiddling his fingers around. He immediately connected the action to insecurity and his soul reflexively clenched with worry. His  _confident_ brother was being insecure? That was a dangerous combination.

He was sitting up in an instant, listening attentively. "but, uh, you can show me what you found and i'll think about it," Sans added quickly, nodding to the little book.

His brother reached excitedly for the course book, placing the bone next to the pet rock as he turned the page to some topic. Papyrus lifted the book and showed him the page. It was too high to read, and a little too far.

"paps, you're kinda holding it up too high. could you... lower it down?"

Papyrus lowered it, and again, his expression was pleading. "JUST READ IT, PLEASE!"

Sans read the shortest sentence he had ever read in the past few weeks. It was mentioning that working students could have their schedules accommodated.

That was it?

"uh..."

"WAIT, THERE'S MORE!" Papyrus hurriedly replied, bringing the book back to his chest and flipping the pages rapidly to another one.

Sans waited patiently as his brother located the page.

"HERE!"

"let's see..." Sans read the description of some kind of a college/university help page. Since most professors were located at the Capital, some of them actually had moved from there to Snowdin. Huh. "it says students can be teacher's assistants and have their own salaries. if students are classmates with students under their care, the professor will grade it. sounds nice, but what does that have to do with me?"

Sans already knew the answer – Papyrus wanted him to become a teacher's assistant.

"WOULD IT NOT BE BETTER IF YOU BECAME A TEACHER'S ASSISTANT?" Papyrus suggested heavily.

There were moments when Sans hated it when he was right.  _This_  was one of them. It was a time that Papyrus was being a little… too pushy, but still well-meaning. He didn’t know if he was supposed to love or dislike it. There wasn’t an easy way to hate Papyrus, after all.

"IT HAS A HIGHER PAY GRADE THAN YOUR OTHER JOBS!" his brother desperately emphasized with wide, sparkly sockets. It looked sweet on his face. It was the most Papyrus could manage for a manipulation tactic.

Sans mentally calculated the salary with monster tax and agreed. "heh, yeah. however, that would mean my sentry duties and my part at the resort would have to be cut short. being a teacher's assistant will definitely take a lot of my free time away."

Not that he enjoyed his free time any more than Papyrus did. The lack of activities during his free time had not helped. His brother's complaints had him searching for more things to do besides trying to drown his mind with ketchup. The comfort food had worked most of the time, but the more he indulged, the less it became meaningful. The percentage of ketchup working to fix his mood was lower than fifteen. He didn't think a TA job would fix it.

It would also be highly boring, signing and grading stuff and being an assistant again. He had the same job at the capital until it bored him to tears. Papyrus had forced him to buy a house at Snowdin and leave their other house at the Capital. When he got different jobs, it felt better. Sure, it took him a while to get used to the odd wake up times, but it worked. Papyrus had planned something with that move and got training lessons from Undyne, the captain of the Royal Guard. They got distracted with things and Papyrus had changed a lot, but Sans could only encourage him.

Sans also had to teach his brother how to dance, which had been the best day of his life. First lesson on jumping was held on land, then on ice. Seeing his brother seem so shy and unsure was endearing. Helping out his brother with something he could actually do was...Well, it  _rules._ It always did. His brother could do fancy tricks on the ice after basic training, and that was because his brother had done everything else all on his own.

It made him feel proud to be the brother of someone so cool and talented.

The TA position actually had much more salary than his side-business of selling hotdogs and hotcats. Not to mention his salary as a sentry for different locations in the Underground was not worth the pain it took to move to each station. It took him little time to take shortcuts, but after the new security cameras were installed near the school, he had to map out the locations. Which, tibia honest, he still hadn't finished it yet. His patience was getting shorter when it came to anything other than his brother, more so each time he failed to find another hobby to relax himself. He felt like he was experiencing painful withdrawal from ice dancing, and he had to find other jobs to keep him stable.

Still, being a monster with a single HP was not helpful when it came to acquiring jobs he could actually do with his intellectual prowess. Employers were so afraid of accidentally having him die from laboratory accidents.

Several times, his brother had asked him if he met someone in a romantic way. Some soul bonds could boost HP or stabilize souls, but it completely depended on the harmony of the pair.

Sans still had the same answer to his brother’s question…  _no._

There was no way he had time for such things. For one, he could barely connect with anyone meaningfully with his multiple jobs taking up his time, and second... well, he had other priorities other than romance. It was difficult to open up to someone Sans did not know. It had him in a panic the first time Papyrus had questioned him of his love life, over-analyzing every little detail in his brother's words, trying to read between the lines. It took him a moment to calm down and realize his brother was asking not because his brother wanted him to be far away, but because his HP was still a single point after all the things they had both achieved.

If their father hadn't been able to add any point Sans' HP from all the experiments done to him when he was younger, then he doubted a complete soul synchronization and a full harmonization would raise it. Their father had volunteers and, well, it hadn't ended well. His father's followers had been so obsessed with helping him find ways to break the barrier and help Sans raise his HP. Sans had to reject every other experiment that came when Gaster had wanted to involve dust.

"SANS, YOU'RE DAYDREAMING AGAIN!" Papyrus complained.

His brother looked frustrated and sad, both a bad combination. Sans felt guilty for his loss of concentration. Just because he had lost his ice skating didn't mean he had to take his brother for granted like this.

"oh." Sans bobbed his head in agreement. He curled forward, leaning each elbows on a patella, trying his best to stay focused. It took all his energy to do it. "sorry bro, just, uh, imagining other scenarios and stuff."

Papyrus raised a browridge, and Sans could not get a hand on his nebulous thoughts. Ideas kept slipping through, but he could never get one that seemed so tangible. He knew his answer would be  _no_ , but his brother looked really close to begging.

He never let his brother beg for anything in his life.

"just thinking which jobs to drop," Sans lied through his teeth. He was _literally_ lying through his teeth. That was probably the best pun he could manage at a time like this. He could feel great reluctance clawing at his spine. He did  _not_ want to go back to school. He already knew the basics, did his doctorate stuff and went by name because he didn't want anyone to call him doctor.

"AND?"

"i was thinking... that science talk at the resort, the food sidelines from the sentry thing, maybe change up my sentry schedule."

Papyrus looked at him like he was seeing the sun for the first time.

"SANS..."

His brother looked happy from his words, something that Sans missed these past few weeks. His brother had seemed really nervous at approaching him about the school thing. Sans had nearly thought his brother would give up. The side-glancing and the course list appearing on every surface possible had him chuckling inwardly, but the eyes did it. Sans only had to ask his brother about the school and his brother went off to discuss everything.

"Really?" Papyrus asked in a happy little whisper.

Sans' soul melted through his bones.

"sure, bro," he conceded, counting it as a win when his brother looked so ecstatic with his answer.

"T-THAT IS GREAT! I KNEW YOU WOULD AGREE WITH ME!" Papyrus sneakily tried to wipe tears of joy from his eyes, but Sans thought it was obvious. There was a little sniff of relief. "THE GREAT PAPYRUS ALWAYS MANAGES TO PUSH YOU TOWARDS BETTER GOALS!"

"you know..." Sans trailed into the tone of mischief, just to be contradictory. Papyrus looked up sharply, expression twitching into the familiar exasperation.

"Sans..." his brother gritted out.

"this thing you want me to do... they call it the snowdin college of rhythm enrollment..."

"Sans, please stop while you're ahead." His brother looked pleadingly at him, but it was futile. Once Sans had it in his mind, it couldn't be held back.

Sans paused, trying to look innocent and failing. "so does that mean your goal was...to get a better _score?_ "

"OH GODS!"

Papyrus was vibrating between two extremes, smiling at the joke but also hating that he was smiling. Sans held in his laughter, grinning as his brother carefully laid down the book onto his lap and walked away, every twitch in his step nearly sending Sans into hysterics. Unfortunately, when his brother reached the door, the panicking sensation from earlier came back.

"bro, wait!” Sans called out in desperation. He didn’t want to be alone at a time like this. “i'm sorry. please don't leave." Sans scrambled to flip the pages of the book just as Papyrus turned around. "i need help with this thing. it just doesn't really seem like it has anything new to give me."

His brother hurried back, kneeling on the carpet next to his feet as he scanned page by page. His brother made a point to stop him at a page that listed several courses on science along with the page that listed the professors of the science department. Papyrus pointed to a specific one.

“THIS IS THE HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT, SANS! SHE IS UNDYNE’S FRIEND.”

Sans appraised the picture of a yellow-scaled dinosaur monster. He recognized the face of the Royal Scientist. She had been a diligent student under Gaster's team, back when Gaster had been alive. Sans didn't know what happened to her when Gaster had turned inexistent in their timeline. She had a crush on Asgore and always followed him around. She had a stash of anime movies she’d showed him before, including ones that had many cats and princesses and odd magic.

"i know her, paps," Sans muttered, tracing her name with narrowed eyes. His brother perked up in confusion. "that's alphys. she was under dad's team. she doesn't seem to be the type to just join schools like this."

While he remembered her being enthusiastic about science, she had the capacity for speaking... only to science nerds like him. Anyone involved in the field of science.

She was also the one who built up the DT Machine from one of his blueprints. Sans wondered if she would remember him. He knew he remembered her. All her _experiments_... Sans had seen them wandering around his dad's old lab when he had to steal back all the blueprints he left behind. Alphys still hadn't admitted to anyone about the Amalgamates, then, if she felt this confident to be in a school.

"UNDYNE SAID SHE HAS A GREAT FEAR OF SPEAKING WITH STUDENTS!" Papyrus added thoughtfully, gesturing to the picture. "SHE MENTIONED THAT DOCTOR ALPHYS WOULD NEED HELP WHEN IT CAME TO PUBLIC SPEAKING, AND THEN I THOUGHT OF YOU! SANS, YOU ARE THE ONLY PERSON I KNOW THAT IS ABLE TO RELATE SCIENCE TO SIMPLE THINGS, ALLOWING ME TO LEARN THINGS IN A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE!”

Sans glanced at his brother. "you want me to help her speak up," he deadpanned, seeing his brother's guilty expression. "pap, are you sure? i'm not sure the royal scientist needs my help. i'm not at her level." Sans was a little bit above her.

“SHE IS IN NEED OF YOUR EXPERTISE IN DEALING WITH THE PUBLIC,” his brother admitted pleadingly, as if he wanted Sans to see it from his point of view. “I KNOW NO OTHER PERSON BUT YOU AND ME THAT ALLOWS TAKING THE ATTENTION OF MANY MONSTERS IN ORDER TO PROTECT THE SHY MONSTERS. HOWEVER, UNLIKE MY FREELANCING, YOU ACTUALLY MADE A JOB OUT OF IT AT THE RESORT!”

Sans remembered her being fourth in class. The other top three students had been him and two of Gaster's obsessed followers. Alphys had seemed like the type of scientist to do her own thing at her own pace and her own time. The only reason she didn't get to be on top three had been the presentations… and her tendency to panic whenever an experiment went wrong… and her fear of asking the wrong questions… and trying not to get in the way of other scientists in a group setting. She was the typical nerd that could get bullied and ignored at a moment’s notice.

“okay,” Sans answered, fearing for the education of Alphys' students. While he could understand Alphys’ shy stuttering about souls, he doubted students (who had never met the monster or dabbled in science) would ever decipher her passion for the subject. She had been kind to him in the past, always treating others respectfully even if she could barely ask it of others. It was the least he could do for her, even if he still held a little grudge against her questionable ethics.

 _She_ was the one who dosed the flower with DT, not him. He still wasn’t over the fact that those RESETs messed up the timeline. Luckily, the DT managed to fade away after several boring resets later. He had never felt so glad after it was all done. The flower had tried to guilt him at first, and he had fallen for the act got dusted, but the next RESET later, he had gained back his wits and simply told himself that it was his job to make sure none of the experiments did harm to the monsterkind. Fortunately for the flower, the DT wore off on time right before he was about to be hunted down, even if it still allowed him to be alive.

“ARE YOU SERIOUS?” Papyrus looked disbelievingly at him.

Sans shrugged a shoulder. His brother huffed in amusement, obviously knowing his answer. He needed to list down things he needed to adjust in his time schedule. He needed to say  _goodbye_  to free time. Maybe helping out the shy scientist would give him that relaxation he needed. Talking about science? That was his kind of job, except with fewer experiments. Alphys would probably want to do that part since his HP was a single point. Every person in the science community knew about his delicate health despite not remembering why. Fortunately, while Gaster had taken with him the knowledge of _HP_ , _AT_ , _DF_ , _LOVE_ and _EXP_ , his scattered being hadn’t been able to remove the actual skill from Sans.

It was an ingrained power, after all.

“sure, i’ll go and tell undyne i need to change my sentry –”

“I HAVE ALREADY TOLD UNDYNE!” Papyrus lifted up his phone.

Sans stared at him, assessing his brother’s sheepish look with a strained smile. He recognized that minute expression on his brother’s face… the sign of his brother lying to his face and failing to do so. He couldn’t believe it… Still, the anomalies from the past few months finally made sense.

“bro, that expression on your face…” Sans began carefully. This was a delicately hilarious – if slightly worrying – situation. His brother looked alarmed, as if his prank had been discovered. Sans kind of did discover it, though, remembering the odd irregularities. “paps, you already handed me to alphys before this school thing ever started, didn’t you?”

His brother had magical sweat all over his skull, his sockets blinking owlishly as if he was still trying to look innocent. “WELL…”

“undyne was probably preparing for this all along,” he mused, remembering the strange appearance of the captain of the Royal Guard at the resort. She had never been interested in such things, and she seemed the type to watch action-packed videos rather than hear anything about science. His guests were usually scientists and science enthusiasts, and to see her attend had been a surprise. It must have been some kind of one-sided interview and evaluation. “i was wondering why she was watching me work out my science trivia at the resort.”

“UM…”

“papyrus… you both signed me up a few months ago, didn’t you?” Sans smirked as his brother wiped away the sweat from his skull, grin faltering into a forced smile. “i would have never had the chance to say no in the first place. you would have shoved the job onto me when the school started, completely explaining to me that everything was handled and i didn’t need to worry about changing shifts because…”

Papyrus tried to look away, but Sans snapped his fingers and held his brother with gravity magic. His brother's expression contained a little terror.

“…right now," Sans started, a mischievous grin crawling smoothly on his face, leaning forward on his elbows. "she’s going to talk to all my employers to tell them about my job change. being a captain of the royal guard, it would make it seem like my job change is important to the crown, and everyone will fall over themselves to make it happen, thus giving me an actual change of schedule... without me having to lift a finger. i have nothing to do anything but accept. am i right?”

"UH... YES?" Papyrus squeaked.

Sans allowed the magic to dissipate. His brother stayed kneeling on the carpet, leaning his head away from Sans’ close proximity.

Sans shook his head, deeply amused. "i can't believe i'm saying this... bro, you got me good."

"O... OF COURSE I DID!" Papyrus emphasized with an indignant face that was still as nervous as before. He was scrambling up from the floor, arranging his body to the pose of victory. "MY PLANS ALWAYS BEAR FRUIT, EVEN IF SOME OF THEM DO END UP WITH STRANGE RESULTS."

"and you completely allowed me to be my lazy self." Sans didn't even try to suppress a grin as horror flashed through his brother's face.

"OH STARS...  _NO_."

" _yes_ , paps." Sans sent his brother a lazy wink. His brother made a face at him. "i'm so  _proud_  of you right now. and it would have been impossible for me to imagine that you would go months without saying anything, planning an elaborate trap like this."

Sans couldn't help but laugh at his brother's strangled expression of mortification and disbelief. He must have not realised the fact he was doing all the work, never expected Sans to offer going to his own employers to change his schedule.

It was helpful of Undyne to use her job title to help him. Sans didn't think his employers could give him away. Not to brag or anything, but he had a lot of customers seeking him for a joke or two, hanging by his station whenever the opportunity arose. They always bought something from him, and for that reason alone he had gained more followers. He’d become popular in such a short time that many travellers had talked about him in their travel journals in the undernet. It had made him nervous at first, but the people that came to eat and be entertained.

Kids had been ecstatic at gaining more than enough head-dogs. Scientists who had heard of him got a chance to hear science puns that he had been holding back. Parents had to stop their kid from moving too much because they had a ton of head dogs on their heads. Some of them received most of them free if they managed to balance the head dogs well. If not… well, he made hotdogs and hotcats before. It was monster food – it wasn’t difficult to replace it.

“I SHOULD HAVE REVIEWED MY PLANS.” Papyrus palmed his face and released a groan filled with embarrassment. “I KNEW I SHOULD HAVE SKIPPED UNDYNE’S INPUT, BUT IT WOULD HAVE MADE MUCH MORE IMPACT.”

Sans laughed and leaned back on the backrest, cradling the book close to his chest. “bro, that wouldn’t be you. if there was a chance to allow undyne to give input, you’d probably be so excited that she was joining in that you’d ignore everything else.”

Papyrus raised his head and glowered at him.

Sans shrugged. “it’s true,” he said to his brother.

“UGH!” His brother groaned at his words and stretched his bones, dusting off his knees. He pointed a thumb to the front door. “I’M GOING TO SEE IF UNDYNE IS DONE WITH HER TALKS. PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU HAVE CLOTHES TO WEAR FOR THE FIRST DAY OF THE COLLEGE!”

Sans opened his mouth to ask a really important question, but it was as if his brother was reading his mind, so his brother took hasty steps to the door and plunged into the snowy outside before he could voice it out. Sans stared as the door was slammed close, stunned by his brother’s quick retreat.

“i was just going to ask about the dress code,” Sans mumbled.

He turned his attention back to the book, wondering if he should read it so he wouldn’t accidentally do something that was against the rules. Remembering Alphys' anxiety about rules, he shuddered. Alphys had been so nervous that one of her group experiments exploded in their face. Sans had to use magic to block the explosion, but the professor had been still taken a mark off her grades. It had caused her to retreat back into her shell, seemingly so ashamed by her daydreaming.

“might as well try,” he sighed, flipping to the first page.

\---

As a reward for the great trap Papyrus had set for him, Sans decided to read the course-listing book as a bedtime story. He flipped to another page, reading out loud the requirements and the achievements earned when the course was successfully finished.

"hey, paps…" Sans drawled after reading a word that clicked into some memory in his mind. "you know… if i'm going to suffer through this… you got to suffer with me."

"SANS…" Papyrus groaned, burying his head in his pillow. “DON’T START NOW…”

"you'll be taking extra classes," Sans announced.

Papyrus lifted his head, expression despairing. "SANS, NO! I'M ALREADY PLANNING TO TAKE EXTRA CLASSES!"

Sans ignored him and flipped to another page. "including lots of science stuff. biology, chemistry, physics and environmental subjects – choose at least one."

" _SANS,_ " his brother howled.

"let's not forget math... all the levels."

"OH STARS..." Papyrus lamented dolefully into his pillow. Sans held in his chortles. “YOU’RE NOT STOPPING.”

Sans flipped another page. “let me see… hmm… i want to say... you have to take the engineering class, too.”

“SANS,  _PLEASE!_ ”

“wait. this one is good, too. it’s biochemistry. it has lots of numbers and chemicals and arrangements. you’ll like it, bro, ‘cause it’s like your puzzles.”

“NYOOO! SANS!” Papyrus whacked a hand petulantly on his pillow. Sans grinned more widely, gesturing to the book with a nod.

“no, you’re right,” Sans declared, closing the book dramatically and leaned his back the headboard of his brother’s bed. “we need to take it slow…”

“THANK YOU!” Papyrus exclaimed with a relieved sigh, settling more comfortably under his blankets.

“…let’s get you started with coding.” His brother visibly cringed under the blankets.

“ _SOMEONE_ ,” Papyrus implored desperately to the ceiling, face twisted with exasperation and incredulity. “PLEASE TAKE MY BROTHER AWAY.”

Sans snickered and patted his brother’s skull gently. His brother threw him an irritated glare. “it’s all right, bro. i’m going to sleep. there’s nothing like reading something like this out loud to keep me dozing.”

Papyrus grumbled a peeved, “ _GOODNIGHT,_ SANS,” then turned to face the wall, curling his knees close and covering his skull with the blanket.

Sans chuckled and stretched himself out of his brother’s bed, cracking his bones into place from its awkward position. After a quick inspection of Papyrus shelf, he placed the book on the farthest left on the top side (it was arranged by years, this time). He grabbed his jacket from the floor on his way out.

“night, paps,” he whispered. He shut the door quietly after he heard his brother mumble something about doing a triple toe jump for the King to impress him. It was endearing.

Sans walked back to his room, fishing out the key from his pocket and unlocking the door. He stepped inside his unadorned and disordered room, shoulders stiff with control. He eyed his bare mattress with tired eyelights, wondering if he would be able to sleep tonight. He seriously doubted it.

There was nothing for him to stretch the magic from his soul. He had been holding it in for too long, and without a proper relaxing activity, it could be detrimental to his health. Well, not really, but the energy would keep his mind active even in his sleep. There would be no reprieve from the buzzing power.

He leaned his back against the door and sighed heavily, feeling the tension in his bones. He didn’t know what to do. His rink had been exposed to the monsterkind, and there was no time to find another unpopular area to build another rink. With his magic so strained to do some action, he doubted any creation he could manage would stand against concentrated magic.

He locked his door and crawled into his bed, hoping for a restful sleep that would not come.


	2. The Spinning Star

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HIGHLY RECOMMENDED TO SHOW CREATOR'S STYLE TO SHOW WINGDINGS FONT!!!
> 
> Don't worry, it's just a snowflake, but it's in Sans' thing.

Ten o’clock in the evening, and he still twisted and turned in his bed. The clean sheets had been of no use to him. The scent of the soap that usually made him doze off comfortably did not work. The pillow that he nabbed from his brother’s stash did nothing but elevate his skull. After cleaning his room, the sight of the stains washing away had made him clear his thoughts, but even then the energy vibrating in is bones was still present.

No _science,_ no _ice skating_.

His _brother_ wasn’t even an option.

Papyrus needed all the sleep he could get, what with his tendency to skip napping like a normal skeleton monster. His brother’s undivided attention in creating an intricate puzzle needed an equally creative distraction. Most of the time, any Fluffy Bunny story would do. If all else fails, Sans could improvise a Mettaton adventure or read out loud a random book from Papyrus’ collection. Most of its theme was something so encouraging and enthusiastic, except for that one Fluffy Bunny book that was a bit sad.

Sans laughed hollowly, digging his carpals into his sockets as he sat up. He was in desperate need for something to calm his soul down. Even a little bit of some science would do! He took a deep breath, trying to contain the wisps of magic that tried to form much more dangerous eyelights.

In his state of worry, Sans took a shortcut to his lab. He landed with a soft noise on the thick layer of comforters he’d situated near the computer hidden behind the machine. He grumbled under his breath, crawling off the pile in his haste to rush towards the drawers, slamming them open and rummaging through papers in an effort to find an unfinished project.

There was no unfinished project in any of the drawer.

Sans vaguely remembered finishing his projects right after they announced the location of the college-university branch of SSR. He sighed in frustration, rubbing the sensitive bone of his jaw. He eyed the papers with a foreboding sense of trepidation. Not any one of them was of any use to him. What else did he have that could calm him down? The rink was a public place to monsters – there was no way he could just allow himself to skate freely at such a vulnerable place.

Sans straightened up his spine and returned to the pile of comforters, dragging his bony feet against the floor. He dropped his body on top of the fluffy pile, thanking the stars for the clean scent it emitted. It smelled sterile, just like the room.

He compiled his messy thoughts, organized the problems he had noted down. One, the safe spot had been compromised. He needed to find another safe spot to build another rink, even if the spot he had initially chosen had the best view. Two, he needed another hobby. The patience he had was dwindling down and he could feel himself so close to snapping. Three, he had to calm down before the school started. There was no way he could risk the job Papyrus got for him. His brother would be so disappointed.

For his first problem, there was a lack of space in the Underground. While Snowdin had the least amount of monster population, it also had the most treacherous ice floors that could fling monsters to a deep edge that could end their life. Still, the more monsters that learned to skate on ice, the more they moved to Snowdin.

The only way he could possibly skate without being detected was—

Sans sat up abruptly as an idea flashed through his head.

It was so _simple_ , so _doable_. There was no way it could go wrong if he just customized everything and tailored the plan into perfection. No one would be able to stop him.

He flung himself into a shortcut and landed on another bed. He scrambled off Gaster’s old mattress and took leaping steps towards the walk-in closet. He nearly ripped the door from its hinges in his excitement, the anticipation in his chest growing when he caught sight of boxes that contained Gaster’s old things. He grabbed the one that was labeled with familiar symbols, the one that most likely contained clothes.

He floated the box to the end of the bed and ripped the tape off with a sharpened bone. He nearly laughed out loud when he saw the old costumes his dad had helped made for him and Papyrus, along with his own. Sans rummaged through the pile, grabbing the first mask he saw, then a couple of scarves and long-sleeved coats with giant hoods. Once he had a decent pile of clothes on the floor, he sat down and visualized his plans like usual.

He started unthreading some clothes with magic, trimming the fabric and threading them back together. He mixed it up, combining coats with cloths cut like hoods, using a bone needle wrapped in magic to direct the stitches. When some designs turned out odd, he just dumped them to a pile next to the bed and started working on another one.

He felt his soul pound with happiness, satisfaction running through his magic as his design slowly came to life. Sure, he had to shortcut some of his personal stuff, but it had mostly needed his skates.

It was finished.

His own ice skating costume, like those pictures he saw on the book, with only a few alterations.

This one’s hood and mask was stitched together more tightly than the rest, a large scarf with the same fabric as the hood attached to it like that character from one of Paps’ story books. Stitched to the scarf was a billowy shirt with narrow long sleeves that was stitched to elbow-length gloves.

It was probably the most comfortable top he had ever crafted in his entire life.

The pair of pants was made with the same material, and layered like a rose with monster-made leather and chiffon across the top. He had decided to give it a loose design, something that looked like the pants from one of Mettaton’s magazine… Sans could only remember that it had something to do with a harem. It was something that he thought could allow him room for wider movements. On its narrow ankle sleeves, he had stitched on his pair of skates.

Sans eyed the black material with critical eyes, frowning when he realized it needed more colour in order to blend into the Waterfall-Snowdin theme of the rink, like a camouflage.

He cracked his knuckles and tossed the clothes onto the bed. Then he took a deep breath. He let out only a slow trickle of his magic, covering the dark cloth with a cyan and blue glow. He furrowed his browridge and turned his attention to the design in his mind, allowing smallest tendrils of his magic to merge on each thread. From the tips of the gloves to the centre of the top, to the layers of cloth down to the dark skates and its blade, his magic gave it colour.

It took a long moment until the cloth carried blue and white on the threads of the fabric. Across the chest was a twisted pattern of frost starting from the centre and spreading out to each shoulder of the top, its design fell to the edges of the pants, the layers he had added looking like it had frosted over. The snowflakes dropped off those edges and down to his ankles. As for his black mask and skates, he added simple designs of tinier snowflakes.

It looked _cool._ He would even call it beautiful. He’d gotten the idea from staring at the window for several hours a day after dropping his hobby, but it turned out looking so well. The glowing white, blue and cyan tendrils of his magic had fused successfully with the cloth, just like he had planned. It had taken most of his willpower to force his magic to stay calm while he had stitched it in, but it still worked in his favour.

For a short second, he thanked the stars that he still had a little patience in him.

Then, vibrating with suppressed excitement, Sans stripped off his normal clothes and dressed up in the costume.

After years of making sure him and his brother had tailored clothes to fit their bones, it had finally paid off in this moment. The clothing slid so softly over his bones, a caress of the fabric soothing his mind. Once he situated the mask over his face, he tied the hidden straps of the pants under his top. It would always be a good idea to have straps like that installed on his clothes so he wouldn’t drop his pants suddenly after a jump.

He felt so comfortable, so _safe_. He was fully covered with magic-enhanced clothes, something that could protect him from prying eyes. There was no chance for his secret being spilled.

He had successfully made what he would call a superhero costume, except it was mostly going to be used to help him skate at night. There were no saving-the-day moments when it came to ice skating alone.

The magical light that the seventh Royal Scientist had invented would be so far away, allowing a greater darkness to his spot.

Now he only needed some blockers installed and he would be good to go.

\--

After tinkering on little gadgets that looked more like rubbish all over his lab’s counter, it was finally complete.

Sans tried to check his stats with the machine again, smiling when the alterations stayed the same. Each modification he had made to his stats – done with the specialized scrambler – actually worked and remained constant to its form. Even if he did every little change he could do to the machine in such a short time, nothing worked to end the projection made by the brooch of snowflake pinned on the scarf of his costume. It was a result of mixing Gaster’s unpublished notes about space-time management along with a unique kind of magic that only Gaster, Sans and Papyrus could conjure and manipulate.

 **ηο** **T** **ΐϲє∗**  
⋇ HP  
⋇ AT  
⋇ DF

Sans deactivated the brooch and tried another check, but this time with his magic.

 **sans**  
1 hp  
1 at  
1 df

He was ready.

Sans had a costume, a secret identity, a scrambler to mess with any prototype of his stats machine (if it were somehow to be stolen by someone), and if anyone had some kind of ability to actually check his stats, they would only see what he wanted them to see.

Now he had to test everything.

\--

When Sans arrived to his normal shortcut, he immediately scanned the surroundings with his magic. Feeling nothing but the breeze coming from the dangerous ledge right in front of him, he figured that no one had deigned to install any security cameras somewhere no one would even dare to visit. A hidden ledge on a cliff leading to an instant death wouldn’t make sense for anyone to observe. If anyone _did_ accidentally fall off the cliff, they’d probably end up on his cleverly-hidden ledge.

Once deeming his surroundings safe, he lifted himself up with gravity magic, aiming for the top. It was a good idea to release some excess magical tension.

But since his magic was vibrating with so much power, he accidentally used too much and ended up flinging himself into the air and landing around fifty feet away from the cliff and onto a pile of snow.

Sans felt only a slight dose of mortification as he sat up and wiped off the snow from his clothes. He could only hope that no one had seen him glowing in the air when he tried to control the location of his fall. There wasn’t much embarrassment coming from the fact his soul had been too excited to go back to the rink and skate some moves.

He had to wrap his blades with magic to keep him stable on the ground while he walked towards the rink and felt up the vicinity with magic to check for cameras. It felt like walking, but on higher shoes than normal. Usually he’d have some slippers, but that wouldn’t have been appropriate for the ice.

Somehow, fortune favoured him and there had been no cameras on the path he took.

Sans caught sight of the familiar tracks towards the rink. Around it was a scattered group of floating lights that looked similar to the ones found in Waterfall. Since the rink was near the border to Waterfall, the lights must have travelled into Snowdin. The rink itself was larger than the indoor rinks, something that Sans had debated on completing. He’d fought with himself over the design, weighing the advantage and disadvantages it could bring.

In the end, since his magic reserve was somewhat more abnormal compared to the other monsters in the Underground, he had decided to double the size from a regular monster ice rink, which was probably too large for one monster like him at that time, but it worked to his advantage. The time it took to infuse the ice with dormant magic had been a long one, but it did manage to make the ice active when his magic interacted with it.

(It also took him several weeks to empty his magic, but with enough experiments done to the ice, he had gained enough skill to manipulate the ice to his will with only little magic.)

It had been a _long_ time since he began the project, and in order to get everything right, he had made several contingency plans to his _contingency plans_. He’d rather not repeat the procedure all over again, even if the RESETs happened once more. Taking out the flower had been a tedious workload, even if he had most of his free time to just up and track the little brat.

Sans breathed a sigh of relief when his blades touched the ice. His shoulders relaxed and his bones finally released its tension. The neutral magic trickled out from his body, cascading down onto the ice in little waves that looked like mist. Some of it fused into the ice, initializing contact and allowing the magic to spread outwards onto the edges, and some of it formed into aurora-like patterns over the ice, the closest thing he could get to a facsimile sky.

He skated over the glowing surface, down to the centre of the oval, the infused magic smoothing away the scratches made by skaters from days before. When his magic finally locked onto the edges of the rink, he sharply raised the magic. Translucent cyan magic snapped upwards, containing the round shape of the rink and locking him inside. When it reached a certain height, it stopped ascending to the crystal-encrusted ceiling.

It was both a shield for the outside and inside, but mainly to protect him from being detected by both monster and technology. Otherwise, it could also prevent him from pouring magic out into the open and attracting curious monsters left and right, most of them probably wondering who would skate at this time of hour.

Sans slowly released the hold he had on his magic as he skated carefully, spreading his magic equally in the contained rink. It felt like a new beat was vibrating through his magic, a new song to skate his frustrations. He felt like his soul was pleading to be expressed, and it took him a while to comprehend the overwhelming sense of emotions running through his bones.

He skated back to the middle, and then he braced himself and jumped over a small cloud of his magic, twirling in the air for however many times before he landed smoothly on his left skate. He shuddered when the clouds of magic parted in a swirl of mist, a pattern of snowflake-shaped magic scattering away.

His soul pounded music, echoing with fervent emotions through the magic he had released in the rink. He gasped when his soul flooded up with a brilliant white light, stupefied by the fact he had somehow engaged a battle challenge without an opponent from just a simple jump.

But then he heard it – the softest of tones that began a soulsong, something that most monsters used in ice battles or ice dancing. It was different from playing a tune with your soul. To obtain a new soulsong when he already had one was extremely rare. The only known monsters who had more than one soulsong were Boss Monsters. Asgore had three, and his ex-wife had four. Sans didn’t know about their late children, but he could guess they had as much as their parents.

He stared at his soul in awe as it pounded harder, sending pleasurable sparks through his bones, a beautiful symphonic song slipping out its fragile core and echoing gently through the magic in the rink. He hadn’t known he could do that. It wasn’t an ordinary battle song. His soul had somehow composed a complex soulsong on its own – a sign of his soul adapting to his surroundings.

It wasn’t the usual _tone_ that monsters played through their souls. His soul was mimicking the sound of multiple musical _instruments_ , and the arrangement sounded so _striking._ He just wanted to lie down somewhere and bask at the expressive composition of the music, the way it seemed to relax his soul despite the bad days he had struggled to ignore. He just wanted to doze on the ice and let it give him great dreams.

And then the flow of battle magic came, filling him with energy to let loose.

Sans swiftly followed the beat and let his magic take control, sinking deeply into the mysterious rhythm. His magic shortly constructed large pillars that burst from the ice, causing him swerve sharply away from the structures. His magic then created sudden ramps from the ice, and he used it to give him momentum to launch himself in the air and quickly spin away to avoid another oncoming pillar from where he had suspended in air. Ice-like structures shot out from the mist and he had to bend his spine backward, somehow doing so effortlessly.

His mind felt like it ascended to a higher plane, where his body moved without heed, graceful in its evasion, his control so far away. His thoughts melted into the background, and he could only feel the magic blooming brighter and brighter into his soul, sinking into secrets that he had never noticed before.

He dipped his body, threw it in the air with the help of a ramp and spun so delicately. He was so deeply in tune with the song from his soul, ignoring everything else that surrounded him. There was nothing but him, the ice and his magic. There was nothing but the music from his soul guiding him as his sockets closed, the magic surrounding him and making him feel as if he was skating on a starry sky. Spinning and sinking, deeply entrenched into the music as it pulsed through his very being, encasing him with even more magic, dragging the power from the surrounding lights.

But then the music slowly tapered off, bringing him back into attention. The magical attacks stayed where they were in the rink, parting a carefully for him when his momentum slowed down, perhaps recognizing the core of his soul.

Sans stood in the centre of the rink, a little bit dazed and exhilarated from the ice dance. His mind had been so quick that every calculation had been instinctual, like he was seeing the bigger picture while the details stayed concise and accurate. There had been no time for thinking, and yet he had to have thought of it. The sensation of flying through an open sky, under a dazzling starry night, dancing with the songs the stars reverberated throughout the universe, adding his unique tune into the mix, shifting formations smoothly when his galaxies collided.

Sans laughed giddily and turned around, nearly tripping over a magical stalagmite when he skated back in astonishment. He palmed the side of his rib with dawning realization as he saw the dangerous attacks that had been conjured by his magic. Nearly the whole rink was filled with stalactites and stalagmites made from the ice rink, ramps protruding from the ice and magic-encased hoops floating mid-air. There was a ramp that was a feet in its width, but what made him nearly panic were the stalagmites that had a top with a circular flat surface, only an inch in diameter.

It had been a dangerous, using it as a platform.

He vaguely recalled leaping off from the tip with the edge of his specialized blade, arching his back, hands above his head and twisting in the air until he lost count of his rotations and landed back on the ice. At that moment, his soul had been suspended in space, surrounded by the galaxies of the universe, unhindered by the pull of gravity. It had been as if his ties to the ground had been cut off and his freedom was a simple breath away.

But now that he had a more rational look onto the expanse of the ice rink, his dance was _lethal_. There was no way anyone could manage to slip between the narrow spaces of the ice-like conjurations.

He sighed through his nose, knowing it was another weird magic thing to add to his list, and then he reached out with his soul to call back the magic that created the constructs. Gradually, the magic deconstructed and neutralized itself, becoming dormant and returning back into the ice. A larger part returned to him, curling under his enhanced clothing and wrapping his bones with comfort.

It felt a little like freedom.

\--

Once Papyrus had become aware of his phone alarm vibrating under his pillow, he had thrown off his blankets and jumped out of bed, and then grabbed his skates from the side of his action figure display. He had snatched the hidden bag from his closet and got dressed in his training attire while energetically checking his phone for notifications. When he had seen no new messages, he had nodded determinedly.

It had been time to train. There was no way Undyne would accept lousy Royal Guard trainee when he had so much free time! He had to create the greatest skating program! The enrollment for a free year could be received by monsters who could gain a certain score on ice dancing or ice battles conducted in the inner rink of the school. If he gained enough score to take off an amount to his school fees, it would help Sans a lot better! His brother would finally ease off working several tiring jobs at once and return to the time when he would only nap, instead of sleeping like other monsters.

They were not ordinary monsters like the others. Skeletons barely needed sleep for anything other than it being a type of luxury. For Sans to have fooled himself into thinking that he was so exhausted, that meant his brother had too much work to do and little time for himself. There was also a great chance that Sans was also lacking stimulation again. Papyrus could visit the dump after his practice in order to find more books about science for his brother.

When Papyrus had finally packed all his blades in the duffel bag, he had climbed out through the window, dressed in his ice skating clothes – a simple pair of skating trousers and a billowy-sleeved top that his brother had fashioned for him (it was an old keepsake that his brother had mentioned owning, but Papyrus never knew why it would fit him so perfectly). His battle body, while an exemplary armour, was not meant to last on ice skating. It was a delicate masterpiece that needed to be safe while Papyrus trained on ice.

Once his boots had planted tracks on the snow, he had sprinted towards the ice rink at the border of Snowdin-Waterfall. There had been no monsters awake to see him. He had made sure to wake so early that no one would be outside to see him scampering off into the woods.

The ice rink was round-shaped with little burns of magic around the edges. The ice had been marked heavily by skaters from all around the Underground. The rink itself was the closest outdoor rink that was available to the new school, and they didn’t even need to build a new one.

As soon as Papyrus had arrived on time to start his training, he had exchanged his skates with his boots and placed the duffel bag on the side of a tree. He’d started his basic routines, carefully sketching out the program in his head while he jumped and twirled and tried to find a rhythm for the song he had in mind. He’d prepared a dramatic performance, something that could turn heads if he managed to master the steps.

If anyone was daring enough, an enrollee could take a random number and make an improvised program to the corresponding song. Papyrus had wanted to dance to a song that befitted his great character and personality, so he had handpicked a song that was pleasant to his ears.

But Papyrus had not expected _this_ to happen during one of his training.

He had taken a break from his skating and had eaten some of the monster food his brother had gotten him from the store. He had been scouting the vicinity of the rink, just in case a human had fallen while he was distracted, but then he had seen the brilliant bluish-white falling from somewhere above the cave ceiling, like a star falling from the sky, like one of Sans’ documentaries.

Papyrus had rushed back to his gears for a quick change, but then he had caught a glimpse of a dark-clad individual heading for the ice rink a few feet away. He had hurriedly taken the duffel bag and jumped behind a tree in panic, stunned by the appearance of another monster. From what his schedule had told him, there had always been no monsters using the rink around that time of day.

They had stepped on the ice and infused their magic into the rink. It was as if the ice greeted them back with the same familiarity, reaching up with a kind of dormant magic that was usually infused in houses. The magical burns that surrounded its edges started glowing with magic, and Papyrus realized it.

‘ _They must have been the person to create the ice rink!_ ’

There had been a low chance for any natural rinks to be created near the border of Waterfall, what with it easily melting ice into water. Papyrus had heard Doctor Alphys telling this information to Undyne, who had also been skeptical about the use of the ice rink. They had tried to take a sample, but the ice came out with nothing but water. But this had actually explained it.

Dormant magic was made of neutral magic that could be sensed by the monster that placed it in an object. Usually, houses with neutral magic could be instantaneously repaired or altered by the home owner. Only the monster that infused the house with magic could alter it as they pleased. There was no other way for anyone else to alter it unless the dormant magic, which could never be properly analyzed due to its neutral nature, was the owner’s. There was also no way of telling if there was dormant magic at all, because neutral magic was the core of every monster, and it had seeped so deeply in the Underground that it had become so concentrated. Neutral magic could never be narrowed down because of its standard form of magic.

Just as Papyrus had planned to interrupt their skating in order to ask important questions, music then resonated from their soul after they had completed a long jump in the air.

It had been almost immediate if not for the soulsong’s little warning.

He had remained fortunate enough to be bestowed the amazing sight of the individual gaining their own complex soulsong, an evolution of monster souls that made them highly adaptable to their current state. It was a sign that the monster’s magic gaining a personalized appearance, the expression of their magic turning into an extended part of their soul. Their magic had constructed dangerously swift attacks, one that they evaded ever so gracefully. He had seen them twist into the air, slip their body through hoops of burning magic and land with delicate elegance on the ice without a single scratch on their oddly billowy clothes.

It was as if they were one with the ice, dancing to their magic’s rhythm with ease, bending to its will like a leaf in the wind, like a star that had shattered through the Underground and created thousands of dangerous crystalline structures on the ice. They had flown and twisted in the air. They had spun and arched so delicately, like they had no idea just how much danger they could bring to their soul if they took a wrong spin into a spike of ice. They glided so smoothly across the beautiful icescape of treacherous turns, veering off when they were a hairsbreadth away from a particularly deadly path.

Since the beginning, Papyrus had observed the ice rink bending to their will. They had turned it rectangular, sometimes circular, changing it to the whims of their magic. There was a moment mid-air when the rink grew larger and took in much more area on the snow, encompassing a larger territory than normal. The sudden shifts of the ice had been stunning to witness.

Their adaptations had stayed so mesmerizing throughout their improvised skating.

Papyrus was star-struck.

From the moment they had completed that little twist in the air, he’d been wholly spellbound, particularly by the mellifluous music they were performing on ice. The responsive movements on ice, the flexibility in dodging critical hits to their glowing soul, the fluid grace they blended into their spins and glides… There was a great passionate expression in their movement, so yearningly reaching out into the sky, or perhaps the stars.

It had been an emotional song, and even then, they had stayed so defined. There had seemed to be no space that was left untouched by their blades.

After their soulsong had ended and they started recollecting their magic, Papyrus had the strong desire to meet them. There was no doubt they would be an amazing friend!

He dusted off the snow from his and tried to make himself look much more presentable. Papyrus wanted to greet them right. They had to teach him how to skate like that!

He left his duffel bag behind the pine tree and circled his way around it, carefully making sure that his steps were light on the snow. They were distracted with making sure their attacks were gone from the ice, snapping back their magic towards their soul like they were rushing to hide all the evidence of their presence.

A piece of branch snapped under his boot.

There was a sudden silence in the rink, and Papyrus saw the hooded figure’s head snap up to meet his sockets. Papyrus watched in stunned amazement as the cyan shield that guarded the rink became much more opaque, shining much more strongly. Just as he was about to call out to the monster, the cyan shield dropped.

The monster was gone.

(And they forgot to clean up the ice stalagmites and ramps.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Definitely not ice. I call Sans twirling many times in the air as Spinning Star.
> 
> So it has alliteration, like... Spinning Star Sans. *twinkles*
> 
> Also, Sans did not finish cleaning up his icy mess.


	3. a pap-down

Sans had a nice, short nap free of anxious dreams. He woke up feeling not refreshed, but sufficiently satisfied. If he had more time to skate last night, he wouldn’t have slept as long as he did.

It was the next best thing he could appreciate after his night was abruptly disturbed by the monster that had snuck near the rink. If he hadn’t heard that twig snap like it did, the shield would have damaged them. Luckily for the monster, Sans managed to take a hasty exit out of there. He hadn’t checked to see if there were monsters – it would be something that he needed to repeat until he never entered a place without checking for guides.

However, once Sans had appeared in the lab and switched his attire, he realized what mess he had left behind. He had panicked shortly after he just tugged on his jacket, rushing a sloppy shortcut to his room and landed near the self-sustaining tornado. He would have returned to fix his mess if it wasn’t for the thought of the monster he overlooked. They could still be there and he would need to avoid the rink if he wanted to be safe. He didn’t want to deal with them, really. There wasn’t a force in the world that would make him go and socialize after his dance.

Shortly after dressing up into his regular jacket, pants and mittens, Sans remembered that he didn’t have work. He stood in the middle of his room for a minute, stunned. He didn’t have _work_. Papyrus had made sure of it. _Undyne_ had made sure of it. Sans had agreed to it.

Stars, he knew there was something missing when he woke up.

Until he enrolled for the school, he wouldn’t be doing anything productive. Not anything that could even bring gold to their house – not that they needed it, but it felt a little uncomfortable to not do anything when it was in his routine to go to work after waking up.

‘ _maybe it’ll be different today._ ’

With that thought in mind, he went to the living room and sat on the couch. News on the television wasn’t reliable, not with Mettaton highly exaggerating every event in the Underground, so he got stuck with a replay of Mettaton’s old. There wasn’t a report of a monster found near the ice rink, but the robot relayed the strange appearance of the ramps and stalagmites of ice. If he could get close and find out if anyone reported him, it would be a great —

“SANS!” shouted his brother.

The door slammed open and he flinched, startled by the disturbance. Sans peered over his shoulder and muted the TV. Papyrus whipped away the snow off his shoulders and scarf, and then he placed a duffel bag beside the doorway as he locked the door.

“pap,” he greeted, sharply taking in his brother’s disheveled appearance. His brother was dressed in his ice skating attire, without his skates. He wore his regular red boots over his plain skating trousers and his scarf over Gaster’s old billowy top that Papyrus really liked. He didn’t know why their dad’s clothes hadn’t disappeared with his inexistent existence, but perhaps it meant something. He could only hope it was a good thing.

When Papyrus turned and beamed at him, Sans noted the tightness that stretched the material of the buttoned shirt and the strain the movement did for his brother’s gestures. His mind immediately made calculations for the next clothing design that he could make for Papyrus, mental landscape settling quietly at the thought of his brother. Nothing short of perfect would grace his brother’s smooth bones, not even those poorly designed MTT Wear would touch it, no matter how much his brother liked their products.

“YOU ARE _AWAKE_ ,” his brother stated the obvious. “EARLY,” he quickly added, as if Sans wouldn’t understand what he meant.

Sans relaxed at the relief in his brother’s voice. He knew he had acted too tense in the past, looked too tired, and dropped ridiculously half-hearted jokes, but now…

“i feel great,” Sans replied, smiling. “i guess i just had a good night.”

Papyrus’ face brightened happily.

He knew when he woke that it was early. He didn’t think he napped for more than three hours, which was a highly great evidence of his bettering mood. From his observations of his and Papyrus’ power, skeletons didn’t need sleep. They could thrive without food, be self-sustaining if they were dreamers (like his brother). He didn’t know about other monsters (although he had many theories), but skeleton monsters could live as long as they had even a single point of hope. Emotions made monsters. Hope simply fueled it.

It was complicated.

“I WAS WONDERING IF YOU WOULD ACCOMPANY TO THE SCHOOL TO REGISTER,” Papyrus began with a curious tone. Sans gazed at Papyrus fondly as he took his scarf off and folded it neatly on top of the couch’s armrest. His brother started fiddling with the buttons of his top. “I HAVE FINISHED MY PROGRAM JUST EARLIER AND FEEL READY TO FACE THE SCHOOL BOARD FOR MY PERFORMANCE. I THINK IT WOULD BE ALSO NICE TO TAKE A TOUR OF THE PLACE, YES?”

Sans weighed down his options. On one hand, he would be near the rink to investigate the rumours he left behind. He would also be near his brother. On the other hand, he didn’t _want_ to deal with the rumours. He would have to deal with a crowd of monsters. The ice creations he left would have attracted everyone to gossip. He eyed his patient brother, wondering. An idea of using his energy to create a new and much more elaborate costume for his brother would be ideal, but then he would waste his time away from his brother.

“sure,” Sans answered. Papyrus looked pleased. “although, isn’t it better to do more practice on your program?” he asked pointedly. He hadn’t even seen this mysterious program that his brother wrote down. What could his brother be hiding? “there’s still time.”

His brother’s expression shifted suspiciously. “I _AM_ GOING TO PRACTICE FURTHER,” Papyrus replied. “I WOULD JUST LIKE TO RESERVE A SPOT IN THE COLLEGE BEFORE EVERYONE ELSE FILLS IN.”

“smart,” Sans praised lightly, eyeing his brother’s flattered blush. He got up, yawning. He fumbled with the remote and shut off the TV, tossing the remote on the couch when the screen turned black. “better now than later, i suppose,” he conceded after a second thought.

His brother nodded encouragingly. “THAT IS TRUE, BROTHER. WHY WASTE TIME NOW?”

“i mean, i would have more time being lazy after this is done,” Sans murmured with a baiting grin. “right?”

Papyrus scowled predictably. “SANS!”

Sans suppressed a smile.

“kidding, pap. you want help with that?” Sans gestured to his brother’s poor attempt at unbuttoning his top. It would probably work if his brother’s top didn’t pull tight when he stretched his arms. Stars, the physics of clothes really flew over his head sometimes. He greatly needed to get his brother some better gear. If it was starting to constrict his brother, then he needed something more flexible and even more extravagant to replace it. His gloves, on the other hand, would need a much creative design, one befitting of the Great Papyrus.

His brother nodded and promptly dropped his hands.

Sans tilted his head curiously, and then he tossed his mittens on the couch. He walked over to his brother and reached out to trace a single button, one worn with scratches from overuse. He slowly unbuttoned his brother’s top, gauging the difference from when he had unbuttoned this shirt in the past. It seemed much more tighter than when Papyrus had first worn the clothing. After a quick moment of observation, he measured Papyrus’ size while he helped pulled it off. His brother had worn a thin and transparent tank top underneath the shirt, clearly defining his brother’s bones in a more pleasing light, but also to add a reasonable padding that could hide the delicate shape of his ribs.

“you made this?” Sans questioned, glancing up at his brother’s shy smile. The small sign of insecurity seemed to make him look younger. It also made him a hundred percent more effective in persuasion.

“YES,” his brother confirmed.

“it looks good,” Sans murmured in approval. The orange flush of magic fluttered close to the bones where his hand lay, brought forth by a luminous glow from his brother’s sternum.

“THANK YOU! I HAVE BEEN EXPERIMENTING WITH TEXTURES AS OF LATE!” Papyrus ran his gloved hands down the length of the garment, jutting his hip to a side endearingly. It was heartwarming to see his brother be this bubbly, when in the past few months he had barely appreciated such sight due to the lack of distractions.

Sans grabbed a loose thread hanging from the side of the garment, humming as ideas bloomed in his mind. He could imagine his brother wearing something both luxurious and dramatic, something that clearly emphasized his integrity and bravery, something soft and sharp, but also cool-looking.

“i can work with these,” he mumbled quietly, stepping closer and dragging a keen eye over the material.

He palmed his brother’s bones, imagining a good design that could work on his brother’s rather tall build and work with the thin undergarment that prevented his brother’s bone to look bulgy. He could work with something dark, because his brother’s smooth bones were a beautiful shade of white. It was aristocratic in nature, like the nobles from one of those books at the Dump. Under a shade, it would have a darker hue, but something with lustre, so he might have time to play with luminous crystals. His brother had the sharper features between the two of them, so he might have to mix something with ruffles and sharp folds. His brother would look good in a vest, there was no denying it. His brother’s torso gave off the impression of a dedicated knight, spine curved to a straight posture, confidence in each step…

“you’re going to look good in any colour, pap,” he spoke reassuringly without prompt, realizing his brother had been waiting for a word of affirmation to his greatness. “white pairs up nicely with nearly everything. your bones are perfect.”

Papyrus flushed a brilliant shade of magic. “DO YOU THINK SO?” he asked falteringly, almost vulnerably, his gloves fluttering over the fabric in a nervous manner.

Sans glanced up sharply, taking in his brother’s rare insecure expression. His brother must have noticed that his clothes didn’t fit any longer, if that was the case. There weren’t other skeleton monsters besides them, so they had no time to reflect on being entirely too different from the monsters that resided in the Underground. They weren’t ordinary monsters, and Sans supposed that gave them a reason to feel better, since there was only one monster that could be compared to his brother, and that was him. He wasn’t that remarkable compared to the brilliant light that was his brother, the rival of the brightest of stars known.

His face softened in quiet affection.

“yes, i do think so,” he confirmed, patting his brother’s translucent creation lightly. He didn’t want to familiarize himself with that expression. He wanted his brother back on his comfortable toes. If Papyrus skated with this kind of mental state, it would lead to disaster. His brother performed well under pressure, but under _insecurity_ –? His brother would survive, but gain scratches. “even if we’re the only skeleton monster around, i know so.”

Papyrus’ gaze searched his sockets before he straightened up bravely. “O-OF COURSE!” Papyrus stammered. “YOU ARE CORRECT, DEAR BROTHER. THE GREAT PAPYRUS’ BONES _WILL_ MATCH PERFECTLY WITH ANY COLOUR!”

Sans bit back a cooing noise. His brother was too charming for this place. He didn’t think it would always send the right message. His brother could be entirely too honest and oblivious at the same time that his behaviour slightly offended monsters.

“and if you had darker clothes on ice…” Sans trailed off, glancing to a side and smiling reverently.

“YES?”

There’s just something about his brother that made it impossible not to worship the innocent trails he left behind, or the dreams he passionately pursued. Right now, it was impossible for him to not wrap his arm around his brother’s waist, like he did when his brother was still a babybones, supporting his stance while Sans navigated him towards the couch. When his brother sat down with a gentle nudge at the lower part of his spine, Sans sat delicately on the armrest and faced his brother after slipping off his fluffy footwear.

“you’ll look even more amazing,” he concluded with a wistful tone, imagining it. He could just see his brother on the ice so clearly, dressed up in some imagined attire that Sans would make for him. It would take him a while to attach crystals, and Papyrus would need to relearn his moves in a customized outfit, but it would be worth it. He felt a sudden need to see it, to witness something so pure and so ‘ _Papyrus’_.

“THANK YOU,” Papyrus said softly, relief evident in his voice. Sans observed quietly as Papyrus took his hands both in his own, cradling his bones ever so gently. His brother held onto his hands for a long moment that Sans chose to speak up before his mind wandered away in tranquility. 

“you’re welcome,” said Sans, and the silence that came felt so natural and relaxing. He took his time in thinking up ideas, playing with the thought of something silk-like as a cloth, or something as silent as cotton. He couldn’t throw away the idea of gluing luminous crystals, something he could pluck from the walls and polish with the machine in their basement.

“YOU ARE SO INCREDIBLY KIND, SANS,” Papyrus said after a long moment of watching him, features softening with appreciation and affection. It filled Sans with warmth to hear it, though it made him feel flustered for no reason. He wasn’t exactly _that_ patient. Between the two of them, Papyrus had more chance of being patient. “I WAS UNCERTAIN IF YOU WOULD BE WILLING TO WATCH ME SKATE BECAUSE YOU SEEM SO UNINTERESTED IN – THAT IS… I MEAN… AVOIDING _ICE_ GLIDING SEEMS TO BE THE MAIN QUEST OF YOUR LIFE. I WAS CONCERNED THAT YOU WOULD NOT BE ENTIRELY _PRESENT_ , IF YOU DO WATCH ME SKATE.”

Sans lifted his eyelights, sockets half-lidded with interest. Oh, if only Papyrus knew what he did in his free time, maybe they wouldn’t be here hanging around, and Papyrus might drag him out to skate more often. Sans wouldn’t have minded, actually, but still… he needed to feel that desire, first.

“if this is something you like, i don’t really mind,” he admitted, carefully wording his answer. “you’re really great at ice skating. i’ve watched you before. i’ve never seen anyone skate as well as you do. you have high jumps, and fluid leaps, and even if you fall, you make it look so graceful. you’re great at improvisations when the need calls for it.”

His hands stayed in his brother’s grip, toying with the billowy shirt. He didn’t know why he was keeping his hobby from Papyrus. Why couldn’t he just admit to it? It wasn’t something so serious, _right_? Still, he hesitated to tell his brother. He didn’t know why, but it seemed as though his idea of skating differed from Papyrus’ personal views on the hobby. His brother wanted to learn it to join the Royal Guard, and Sans learned because the physics calmed him down. Contrasting views, but they both enjoyed it – so what was the problem?

Many monsters had difficulty in skating on ice due to their complex builds and the lack of similar trainers, but Papyrus had the advantage of being a skeleton, something that they have in common with the human body. There were many human books that Sans could find in the Dump regarding many human activities, and it greatly helped his equally great brother.

He knew Papyrus was enraptured with skating, but he didn’t know _why_ , personally. It’s not simply to join the Royal Guard, because his brother skated long before that wish. It could be some kind of subconscious desire for action, or simply a desire to be with a group of other monsters. Sans’ soul flinched at the thought. He knew his brother had been a little sheltered after their dad’s death, but he hadn’t known his brother would be so ambitious enough to join the Royal Guard after discovering what they did. He knew there was a chance for his brother to be as proactive as he was before their father’s death, before his brother’s memories wiped itself from existence.

His brother’s pretty much the most energetic person he knew. Even Undyne didn’t do excessive workouts like his brother did, as she always seemed to leave anything laborious to his brother’s endless enthusiasm.

Sans blushed as he remembered his little brother proclaiming to the world how he had the coolest brother in the world. His soul ached for his brother’s memories to come back, to gain back most of the personality that disappeared overnight when Sans forced Papyrus out of the lab because their father fell into the CORE. Sans had seen him plummet into an influx of energies that highly contrasted against each other, like matter and anti-matter, only much more complex than what he could write in the years of resets. Papyrus, on the other hand, had seen _nothing_ – and somehow that made the difference, since Gaster’s inexistence disappeared from memories of monsters who knew him, Papyrus’ memories included. However, those who witnessed his death had somehow retained his father’s existence, Sans even more so.

He had a feeling that it had something to do with having a larger part of knowing how to retain information regardless of the state of his change in surroundings. That, or the time most of the experiments witnessed Gaster’s death, as Sans had seen it.

 “THEN I SHOULD RESERVE FOR YOU THE BEST SEAT IN THE INNER STADIUM OF THE SCHOOL,” Papyrus promptly declared with delight, snapping Sans out of his thoughts. Then his brother admitted, “ALTHOUGH… PERHAPS I SHOULD WAIT UNTIL I ACQUIRE AN EVEN GREATER SET OF CLOTHES. I HAVE GROWN TOO TALL FOR MY CLOTHES AND AS MUCH AS I LOVE IT, I NEED ONES THAT FIT ME WELL.”

Hiding a secretive smile behind his hand, Sans promised, “i’m sure you’ll find something.”

—————

Sans arrived eight days later at the school with unease crawling up and down his spine, while Papyrus looked utterly at ease.

The school stood too tall and wide, made of Capital-produced materials that could be found in stronger Capital buildings, which had a ninety percent or so chance of withstanding extreme pressure from cave-ins. It was… grey. There could be no other colour mixed into it, he supposed. There was a delicate process to creating the material, and from what he had seen the constructors used, they made the school look like a castle. Seeing as it nearly touched the inner barrier, Sans shuddered. It looked precariously dangerous to be anywhere inside the school, but so was everywhere else.

There was a Royal Scientist in the past that had accidentally created a large net of energy that pushed out soil _to_ the ceiling, a net that curved into the constant space and held there by a machine from the Capital that required regular maintenance. It held off the threat of the soil caving in, though the natural rocks and roots on the ceiling helped too.

Sans’ attention snapped to his side, where Papyrus gasped in awe at the sight of the school.

“thought you already saw this place?” he teased lightly. His brother had been going on and on about the construction of the school.

Papyrus flushed with magic. “WELL, YES! HOWEVER, IT LOOKS MORE BEAUTIFUL EACH TIME I SEE IT.”

Sans glanced back at the building and tried not to stare too much at the spots that probably needed more pillars. It wasn’t that appealing, actually. But… maybe he just needed to squint a little.

“yeah,” he admitted after a squinting. “it looks good.” Upon closer look at the aesthetic designs, it did look cool. However, there were parts of the image that seemed horribly wrong. He’d need to study the blueprints of the building later. There was no way that thing could hold more than two thousand monsters, not even the max capacity of ten thousand.

He and Papyrus walked through the open double doors, reaching a large room of the reception. Sans caught sight of a familiar crystal monster, a cousin of Shine (from MTT’s Resort). This monster was built taller and much more reflective, and the light from the low-hanging chandelier made them seem brighter from the dark blue of their geometric crystal body. They looked up from the customized computer on their desk just as he and Papyrus reached the counter.

“Oi, Sansy!” the blue crystal greeted, “and of course, your extremely cool brother, Papyrus!”

Sans threw a quick glance at his brother’s blushing face, hoping he wouldn’t ask how some stranger knew him. He might have been… a little _too_ enthusiastic in one of his talks and he might have gone off into a tangent about his brother for a few minutes. Ninety minutes. It wasn’t that much, compared to that day he had accidentally been served a inebriation-inducing monster drink and languidly spent the rest of his break regaling everyone with stories about his brother… starting from the first time he started crawling. He had never mentioned anything potentially embarrassing – he wasn’t that kind of brother – and he’d found monsters that agreed with him that Papyrus embodied greatness.

Papyrus cleared his nonexistent throat. “HELLO!”

“hey. blurite, right?” Sans couldn’t help but joke. He heard Papyrus sigh in exasperation beside him, and he grinned, pocketing his hands in his jacket. “shine must be really proud you got this job. that’s how many receptionists in your cluster…?”

“Twenty,” Blurite recited with ease, pride shining in their whistling voice. “So, how may I help you?”

“MY BROTHER AND I WOULD LIKE TO REGISTER FOR THE SCHOOL,” Papyrus began, strutting forward with confidence. He placed a sheet of paper on the counter, the list they made two days ago when they decided what courses they wanted to attend. “HERE IS THE LIST OF SUBJECTS WE WOULD LIKE TO TAKE, AND THESE ONES ARE THE EXTRAS WE WOULD LIKE TO TAKE ALONG WITH THE REGULAR ONES.”

His brother had written down all the courses they wanted, and Sans skipped as much of the science that he had taken from the Capital, taking classes that he could attend with his brother.

Blurite looked over the sheet of paper, humming and typing something into the school system. There was a cute little paperweight Temmie on the desk, holding down a bunch of official-looking papers. “These look good. Someone already registered the both of you in the system. I just have to type down your schedule and make you an appointment with the vice president. Says here you’re already a TA, Sansy. Whew, never knew you were the type to do science. Wait, is that–? Whoa, you’re a _doctor_?!”

“yeah,” Sans admitted casually, shrugging tightly and then scratching the back of his skull. “took it before we moved to snowdin.”

“You have many subject areas,” Blurite began in awe, vibrating with excitement.

“OH, YES. MY BROTHER LIKES A LOT OF SCIENCE.”

Sans shifted closer to Papyrus, wary of the reaction and the attention it could bring to him. His brother sensed his discomfort and placed a hand on his shoulder, patting gently. He didn’t like that Blurite was blurting out his private information like this, even if anyone in the school system could see it if they pulled up his file. He didn’t mind Papyrus blurting out stuff like this, so why did it feel wrong with Blurite?

“That means you have more than one doctorate, right? The Capital’s the one that gives those out. They’re really strict about it! My geode only has one doctor and it took them twenty years to get a doctorate—”

“yeah, sure,” Sans interrupted before Blurite could even begin another detour of words. He really didn’t want to register like this in a public space. He preferred speaking with someone confidentially behind doors. Maybe he could speak with the VP instead. “hey, listen. pap and i have another appointment set and we don’t want to be late. i don’t know about you, but we kind of need to leave. we just wanted to drop this off.”

He could hear Papyrus make an inquiring sound, but Sans replied back with a reflexive hum that meant he would tell Papyrus afterward. It was the same sound he made each time he was on the phone with someone, and as a babybones, Papyrus would often ask a lot of questions and interrupt his calls. Sans would hum and say he’d tell Papyrus later. It went to the point that simple sounds to other monsters would mean coded messages to the both of them.

This time, it was a surprise. He’d called up his network of connections and made a reservation at a special restaurant in Waterfall. They wouldn’t be serving the regular food from the menu, but something that Sans had concocted during his free time. He knew enough about his brother’s tastes that it would be a decent meal set. He’d prepared it on time and it took a lot of favours to get everything set up to Sans’ standards.

“Oh! Yes, sure! I’ll type it all up and upload copies down in the Root, Sans,” Blurite said enthusiastically. Sans fought hard not to frown. “You and your brother can go. We’ll send you an email about the appointment with the VP. Do you have any idea when you want to perform for the free tuition fee?”

Sans turned to his brother, who also looked at him. They communicated silently, and Sans shrugged again when Papyrus’ teeth quirked to a side. He really didn’t have an opinion about the time.

Papyrus beamed and turned back to Blurite. “WE WOULD LIKE TO HAVE ONE BEFORE THE START OF THE SCHOOL. PERHAPS IN A MONTH BEFORE?”

Blurite glanced back down at their computer, clicking and typing down some things. “We have one that’s free two weeks or a week before the start of school.”

“a week before the start of school,” Sans immediately replied, knowing his brother would like to be fashionably late. Not to mention they might have installed an inner rink by then. “so that’s all of it, right?”

“That’s all of it.”

“IT SEEMS SO!” His brother’s sigh sounded like a welcoming relief.

“cool.” Sans looked back at the computer, thinking. “i wonder why we didn’t have to sign anything,” he mused.

Blurite perked up. “You’ll have to do that with the VP. Also, most of the information we have on you was already provided. I don’t know who registered the both of you, but they filled up most of what’s required.”

“IT MUST HAVE BEEN UNDYNE!” Papyrus exclaimed with excitement. Sans chuckled.

“of course. if that’s all, pap and i need to go. bye.”

“Bye! See you next time.” The crystal monster turned back to their monitor and started typing onto the keyboard.

“BYE, BLURITE!” Papyrus waved as he and Sans turned to exit the reception.

They stepped on top of their previous footprints, tracing back to their trail until they reached a rather isolated spot in Snowdin near Waterfall, where the trees were planted too closely to each other that it made little sense to pass through the location. The trees were rarely grown this way, but sometimes it happened and no one wanted to touch it. There was something about the tree roots tangled together and interrupting the soil and snow, allowing a greater chance for earthquakes to destroy the earth underneath the thick snow.

Sans watched as his brother cheerily dusted off snow from a tall branch and his scarf before leaning his back on the trunk of the tree, face joyous as he took out a handy little notepad and checked something off the paper.

Papyrus wore his battle body for today, and it looked out of place for Snowdin’s cold weather, but Sans and his brother couldn’t feel it. Temperature didn’t do much for their bones, as if their bones existed in the physical world but not enough that weather could affect it. He didn’t exactly study it intensively as he did souls, but Sans was sure it had something to do with their dad’s old hometown somewhere far away.

“so, are you ready for the first surprise?” Sans asked casually just as Papyrus made himself comfortable against the bark of the tree.

“OH?” His brother looked up in excitement, head tilted to a side in confusion. “THE FIRST… SURPRISE?! WOWIE!”

Sans glanced down at the snow and sat on top of the largest clump he could see within three feet of him, keeping his clothes snow-free. “i meant it when i said i have a reservation for us. remember when we were little? we went to this small temmie restaurant and ate a lot of food after we donated a bunch of books to their college bin.”

Papyrus’ eyelights lit up with pleasant happiness. “OF COURSE! I REMEMBER YOU HANDING OUT A RECIPE FOR THE TEMMIES TO HELP THEM ADD MORE MEALS ON THEIR MENU! YOU SAID YOU WANTED TO SEE IF ANYONE COULD RECREATE ONE OF MY BABYBONES MEAL AND THEY DID!”

“yeah, you really liked those. full of calcium, good for your bones.”

He felt a soft flutter in his soul when he remembered Papyrus humming with delight after taking a bite out of a simple creamy cheese omelet, but one cooked in a particular pattern, made with synthetic eggs because Papyrus felt guilty about eating chicken eggs. Sans still held onto the precious memory tightly, knowing at that time they had been in a tight situation of being looked upon with suspicion when they traveled to their new house in Snowdin. Once Papyrus had offered the temmies a copy of Sans’ college book, they’d been so ecstatic to invite them to their temmies-only restaurant. When they’d asked what they wanted, Sans had grabbed the crumpled piece of paper from his pocket and handed it over, thanking them.

The action had waved away the suspicious eyes.

The temmies had been delighted with the new recipe. He’d been so transfixed by his happy little brother and had forgotten to take back the paper. The next day after that, the temmies had offered to cook it for them, paid however they want to pay the temmies. It became a pattern until Papyrus’ attention orbited around the idea of being a Royal Guard.

After realizing that his brother should have celebrated his registration to the college, Sans had returned to the restaurant and found out that they had lost the recipe of the seven meals listed in the crumpled paper.

Luckily for them, he had memorized it beforehand and made an extra copy for emergencies.

This time, however, he reserved them the tables at MTT Resort. Not only that, but he had made use of their kitchen to prepare the food and ingredients for this special moment. His brother had been dazzled by the fancy seating arrangement and the somewhat romantic atmosphere of the dining area when he’d visited it one time. A lot of people owed him favours at the resort, and he had used a few of them to get it all ready for dinner.

“WHERE IS THIS FIRST SURPRISE, SANS?” Papyrus asked, making his way back to Sans’ side with the grace of an excited puppy.

Sans scratched the back of his skull and averted his eyelights, blushing. “well, the other one is not ready until dinner time, but there’s this other one…”

“YES…?” Papyrus coaxed him carefully.

He tucked his mitten-clad hands in his pockets and looked back at Papyrus, wondering if he should hand over the ‘gift’ right now or wait later until they’ve gone home. “…maybe i should just bring you there,” he mused out loud. It wouldn’t take that long to the other ‘gift’, right?

His brother perked up and stepped closer. “WHERE ARE WE GOING?”

Without another word, Sans smiled and turned his head to the path that led to part of Snowdin they rarely traversed due to its dangerous trails. Sans had picked that spot because monsters never stepped near the area, and because Alphys had never been there to plant recorders of any sort.

“the first surprise is in snowdin, of course,” Sans replied, making it up on the spot. Of course it was in Snowdin. Where else could he hide without eyes in every crevasse staring at him?

—————

It hadn’t taken Sans a long time to plot out their schedule. After reaching their home in Snowdin and packing up enough gear and snacks to last them a few hours, they’d trekked through slippery and dangerously steep slopes. The place Sans had in mind could be the most precarious of places in the Underground. Without Sans’ and Papyrus’ gravity-manipulating magic, they could have fallen into an endless dark pit and dusted. After teaching his brother to use gravity against the snowy terrain and giving him time to adjust, Sans had led them to an area where Snowdin touched the barrier.

Before that, however, they had to jump down a ledge that trailed down to a slope. Once they had reached the area – a flat snowy spot that looked like most of Snowdin, including trees deeply in the snow – Sans had gathered their gears and set them at an old tree that had grown through the barrier, hanging bags on the branches while Papyrus noted down their location in his sketched map of the Underground. His brother had made use of a large flat stone to help even out his parchment, doodling in dramatic symbols and adding a cute little skull on the exact location of the place.

The place was big, but not entirely so. Unlike the rink, it didn’t have enough space for skating. The snow was too deep, and if they didn’t have magic that manipulated gravity, Sans had no doubt that they would both sink into the snow. He didn’t know how deep the snow could be, but he didn’t want to chance it once a well-thrown rock measured more than Papyrus’ height in terms of the snowy depths.

The rock still hadn’t stopped sinking when Sans forced it down with gravity. If Snowdin had an irregular temperature, he knew without a doubt that the snow would have solidified during a melting season. Ice floors would definitely be a bit vexing for land dancing.

Sans checked the time on his phone and grinned when they’ve managed to halve their estimated time of arrival. He glanced at his brother, who kept looking at the pulsing barrier with wide sockets filled with a befuddled expression, and then at the little hole the rock made into the snow, and then at the crystal-encrusted cave walls beyond the barrier. Papyrus had stopped doodling three minutes ago and simply took his time taking in the scenery, waiting for Sans to do something.

Sans crouched down the hole he made on the snow, pretending to see if it still continued to try and reach the bottom of the snow. It was. He gathered enough of the snow, patting it down to a firm snowball, free of the tiny rocks that would have been found in ordinary snow. He stood up and stole a quick glance at his brother, who was oblivious to his future snowy doom.

He chuckled lowly, eyelights sparking with mischief. This was going to be good.

“okay, bro. are you ready?”

His brother’s head whipped up just as a snowball hit his face and splatter all over his clothes. Papyrus sputtered in disbelief, scrambling away from throwing distance and wiping off the snow from his face.

“SANS! WHAT ARE YOU DOING –” Papyrus squeaked and dodged away from another snowball, making Sans snicker when the taller skeleton forgot the use of his gravity magic for a moment and nearly sank into the snow. His brother threw a glare worthy of an outraged dragon as he righted himself. “SANS!”

Sans readied another snowball, grinning. “bro, you’re going to learn how to battle without dancing today. at the same time, you’re going to learn how to multi-task while being disturbed. i’m going to make you be at least skillful before the day is done.”

With that obviously false announcement, he threw the snowball and Papyrus ducked, but not before Sans’ magic redirected the snowball until it exploded on his brother’s back. Papyrus mock-growled and reached for the snow, clumping together a snowball and quickly hurling it at Sans.

Sans snickered and stepped aside, and he felt magic gather behind him. He allowed the hit to sprinkle snow on his clothes, gravity magic still holding, and his grin still as wide as before.

“YOU DID THAT ON PURPOSE!” his brother accused with a pointed finger.

“you’re going to have an _ice_ time, bro,” Sans replied as he gathered a larger amount of snow, “i swear.”

“ _SANS!_ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back xD! Sorry for the wait. I'm going to focus on Absence Makes the Soul... and The Judge of Souls after this. All the Ice-theme will be continued some time later. It's not discontinued, just probably on a hiatus. (I had a busy time, found work at a farm and went home exhausted and late because the farm is far away and I commute.) It took me a long time to get my flow back, but I found it - only, it seemed to want to continue AMTS and TJOS before anything else. But here's something for you, Silverryu! Thanks for being a really supportive person!
> 
> Mistakes all mine. If seen, run screaming at me.

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by many things, like tomatoes. And Canadian ghosts. And figure skaters. And hockey. And believing in yourself. The original length was cut in half, because I really wanted to post this up. Just letting you know I'm alive.
> 
> All mistakes mine. I seem to like adding those little bits of fun stuff on the end...  
> [progress and stuff](https://ibeta.tumblr.com/progress)
> 
> Also, I decided that my main works will contain identity stuff. I love those!


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